


Burning Bright

by Brumeier



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: mcsheplets, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Prompt Fic, Shapeshifting, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 05:57:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12647508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: A moment of celebration turned into a seeming tragedy, but there was more to the story than John could ever have imagined.





	Burning Bright

**Author's Note:**

> Written for McSheplets #266: Fire and Trope Bingo: Presumed Dead

The last Hive ship exploded in the atmosphere above New Lantea and everyone who could was watching from the balconies. A cheer went up, and John looked around for Rodney. It was his victory, really. He'd configured a plasma beam that was strong enough to take down a Hive in one shot, and also portable so it could be affixed to the 'jumpers. With the superior fire power, Atlantis hadn't lost a single 'jumper or expedition member. 

Typically, while everyone else was celebrating Rodney was still at work, standing behind one of the Control Room consoles. 

"Hey, McKay. You're missing the party." 

"Just checking to make sure there weren't any unexpected energy surges before the explosion," Rodney said without looking up. 

"You think some of them might've gotten away?" John immediately forgot the frivolity happening around him. He knew better than to discount Rodney's concerns. He headed towards the stairs. 

"That's what I'm checking," Rodney snapped in reply. 

John was halfway up the stairs when Rodney finally looked up at him, blue eyes gleaming. 

"We did it. We really did it." 

They hadn't eradicated the Wraith, not entirely. The Pegasus galaxy was a big place, and there were likely still pockets of them out there. But the Hives were all gone, and their facility for creating new ones had been destroyed. The Wraith wouldn't be terrorizing the people of Pegasus anymore. 

There was a long moment where John and Rodney just grinned at each other, and John wished he could run up the rest of those stairs and grab hold of his friend and kiss him until both their lips were numb. But friends was all they were. 

And then Rodney's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, and he hastily backed away from the console. 

"McKay?" 

"John, I --" Rodney started to say, and then he burst into flame. 

"Rodney!" 

John didn't think, he just ran. He was only distantly aware that other people were shouting, his entire focus on the fire that was consuming his best friend. He reached for Rodney, intending to push him to the floor so he could smother the fire, but the flames were too hot. 

John was consumed by white-hot pain and crippling despair. Someone tried to pull him away but he fought against it, even as his blistered hands curled against his chest. There was a lot of activity going on around him but all he could see was the Roman candle where Rodney used to be, burning so brightly it hurt to look at. 

Someone was screaming. 

John thought it might be him.

*o*o*o* 

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Teyla asked.

John just shook his head. She'd been fussing over him for an hour, fluffing his pillows and making sure everything he needed was on his bedside table, and he just wished she'd leave. 

"If you need to talk --" 

"I don't." 

Teyla gave him a look. "We all miss him." 

The whole city was still reeling from Rodney's spontaneous combustion. Radek had done a full investigation, pulling in Cadman for her expertise in trigger devices and flammables, but both of them had come up empty. 

Whatever the cause of the fire, it had burned so hot that Rodney had been essentially cremated. Nothing but ashes left behind. 

"I will be back later with your lunch." 

The door slid shut behind Teyla and John mentally locked it. He didn't want visitors, he didn't want pity, and he absolutely didn't want to talk about how it felt to lose Rodney. Like he'd ever be able to put that into words. 

John dozed for most of the day, pleasantly muffled on pain pills. He had third degree burns on his hands and forearms, and what amounted to a moderate sunburn on his face. Even with the expedited healing from Carson's handmade device he was going to be out of commission for about a week. 

Whenever he closed his eyes he saw the after-image of Rodney's fire.

*o*o*o* 

The shadows in the room were growing long when John woke up, hungry and achy. His head was still a little muzzy from the pain killers, so it took him a minute to realize there was someone sitting in his desk chair. He sighed.

"I don’t feel like talking. Go away." 

"Don't be an idiot," came the familiar reply. 

John struggled to sit up, thinking the lights on as he did so. Rodney was staring back at him from the desk, dressed in maroon scrubs. His skin was bright pink, the hair on his head little more than peach fuzz, but it was definitely Rodney. 

"You ascended?" It was the first thing that popped into John's head, and the only words he could squeeze past the lump in his throat. 

Ascension! Why hadn't he thought of that? Rodney had come close once before. It made sense. And it didn't, because ascension wasn't normally accompanied by fire. 

"In a manner of speaking," Rodney replied. "I'm...uh. I'm sorry. That you got burned." 

John looked down at his bandaged hands. "I'll live." 

"The last time it happened they threw buckets of water at me. No-one was dumb enough to try and touch me." 

John's head snapped up. "Last time? This happened before?" 

"Just the once," Rodney said defensively. "I didn't tell you because...because I didn't think it would happen again in your lifetime and it seemed easier to just pretend to be normal." 

The words didn't make any sense, not strung together the way they were. John's lifetime? Normal? 

"You've never been normal, McKay." 

"I suppose not. But this is really, _really_ not normal. And I didn't want anyone treating me weird because of it." 

"Because of what?" John asked, though he was suddenly certain he didn't want to know. Rodney was back from the dead, that was all that mattered. How it happened was inconsequential and John was sure he could live a happy life not knowing anything more about it. But the question had been voiced and Rodney didn't hesitate to answer it. 

"I'm not exactly human, and don't go freaking out on me. I'm still the same guy I've always been." 

Not human? What non-human creature did John know that could survive being flambéed? John pressed himself back against the headboard. 

"You're a Goa'uld." 

Rodney scowled at him. "I most certainly am not! There's no snake in my head." 

"Then what are you?" 

He hunched his shoulders. "I'm a phoenix." 

"A phoenix. Like that bird from Harry Potter?" 

Rodney rolled his eyes. "No. Not like Harry Potter." 

"You're not a bird, McKay." Maybe de-ascending had scrambled his brains a little. 

"No. I'm a man who can shift my shape into a bird's," Rodney explained. He was using the same condescending tone he used with his staff, like John was being slow. "There're only a handful of us left. Visionaries. Geniuses. World-changers." 

"And the fire?" 

Rodney shrugged. "It happens, sometimes. It signifies a major life change, which I think we can both agree has to do with destroying that last Hive. Things are going to be different here now." 

John knew Rodney well enough to know what a terrible liar he was. He absolutely believed everything he was saying. But a man who turned into a bird? It was something out of Japanese anime, not real life. 

"Fine. Be skeptical." Rodney stood up and pulled off his scrub top, revealing a wide expanse of chest and the broad shoulders that John was so fond of. "Just so you know, I've never done this for anyone. So you'd better appreciate it." 

Between one breath and the next Rodney changed, his body sort of collapsing in on itself, becoming smaller. Feathers sprouted, the scrub pants fell into a heap on the floor, and there it was: a phoenix, his feathers shining gold and red, his eyes a familiar, luminous blue. 

The phoenix hovered there, wings flapping, and John stared at it. Rodney hadn't been lying, or delusional. He really could turn into a bird. 

"Wow." 

The phoenix gave an indignant squawk that sounded so much like Rodney that John couldn't help laughing. He was still laughing when Rodney transformed back into himself, though he might have choked on it a bit when he saw Rodney fully naked. 

"Ow, ow, ow," John hissed when he accidently knocked his hand against the bed. 

"That is _not_ the reaction I was expecting," Rodney grumped. He was fully dressed the next time John looked at him. 

"It's a miracle of nature." John gestured to the bedside table. "If I promise to be amazed later could you get me my pain pills?" 

Rodney drifted over to the bed. "Uh, you know. It's not all just brilliance. There's something else a phoenix can do." 

"Pills first, story later." 

"This first, and you won't need the pills." Rodney sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. "Don't punch me." 

That was the only warning John had before Rodney leaned in and kissed him. 

It was a good kiss. An amazing kiss. A kiss that made John forget everything else that had happened: the fire, the bird, the burns. He wrapped his arms around Rodney, pulled him close, deepened the kiss. 

When John finally came up for air Rodney was looking equal parts smug and stunned, and John's hands didn't hurt. 

The burns were completely healed. John unwrapped his hands, flexed his fingers. 

"You did this?" he asked Rodney. 

"Phoenix saliva has healing powers. It's a little-known fact." 

It was a lot to process. So John did what he always did, and decided to put off thinking about it until later. Or possibly never. 

"You know, I'm still having some pain," he said. 

"Oh yeah?" Rodney raised his eyebrows. 

"Yeah." John pulled Rodney back in for another kiss. 

Looked like Rodney wasn't the only one facing a major life change.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** Full disclosure: I was half asleep when I wrote the majority of this. It was literally write, doze, write, doze. So I apologize for any weirdness. Also? I really need to get some sleep.


End file.
